News
Ageism preventing older people from accessing technology
3 February 2010
A new report from The International Longevity Centre - UK (ILC-UK),
The Fictions, Facts and Future of Older People and Technology, argues that the language used to talk about older people and technology
is often ageist and underplays the diversity of the population’s usage,
attitudes and experiences.
The report by Simon Roberts, design anthropologist with Intel’s
Digital Health Group, also says that people, of
whatever age, are ‘multi-dimensional’ and technology needs to support
multi-dimensional lives and experiences.
Author Simon Roberts says, “To put excitement and purpose into our
technologies for ageing populations we need to talk differently about
ourselves, the ageing and older people. We need to find ways of
continuing to include older people in the process of design and
delivery. By working with older people and understanding their specific
needs we can ensure that end-user needs are the central design point of
developing technology. This type of approach encourages us to look at
older people as ourselves in a few years time and not as ‘different’
group of people.”
He continues, “Contrary to popular belief there is high willingness
amongst older people to adopt and use technology of all varieties.
Technology has great potential to connect, engage, educate and entertain
us as we age, but there is a wider need to change the approach to older
people and technology if we are to truly capitalise on that potential.”
The report suggests that there is a need for current thinking about
technology for older people, and the understanding of older people’s
experiences of ageing to catch up with each other. Understanding how
older people engage with technology is key to shaping our attitude and
approach. However, the report highlights that there is conflicting and
mixed evidence about the usage of new technology by older people which
leads to confusion:
- Figures from the Office of National Statistics shows increased
use of the internet by over 65s in the last five years, but a recent
Oxford Internet Survey[1] suggests that while use of the internet has
continued to grow for those in the 25-54 age range, no such growth is
evident in the over 55s.
- 2009 Ofcom research[2] suggests that only one in ten internet users
aged 55 and over have a social networking site profile. Yet other usage
figures[3] from a popular social networking site suggests a huge
increase in users aged 64 and over. In the UK alone, the number of people 64
years or older using this networking site increased by a staggering 390
per cent between November 2008 - October 2009.
Major challenges exist if new consumer and assistive technologies are
to meet the needs of an ageing society, this think piece sets out a
number of recommendations:
- Mind our Language: The way we talk about age impacts how we conceive and design
technology for older people. Politicians, policy makers and commentators
should avoid using words like ‘old’ or ‘elderly’, which imply that age
is a condition or a destination, and instead talk of ‘ageing’ and
‘older’.
- Beyond Cohort Thinking: We need to recognise the pitfalls of ‘cohort thinking’ which assumes
that older people are one homogenous group. One way to address this
issue is to encourage organisations such as Ofcom and the Office of
National Statistics to segment the over 55 population more finely,
recognising the differences in attitude and outlook that exist in a
cohort spanning forty or more years.
- Us as we Age: An approach to designing consumer and assistive technologies that is
focused on ‘us as we age’, not ‘them that are already old’ would lead to
the design and development of technology better suited to a diverse
population.
- Standards and Guidelines: Cognitive and physical declines make inroads into our abilities to
use technologies as we age. Adherence to accessibility standards such as
the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for websites is therefore important
but widely disregarded. We should encourage age-friendly accreditation
schemes such as Age UK’s new AgeOK kitemark scheme which recognises the
excellence in design for all. The UK Design Council should be encouraged
to develop initiatives which could help the UK lead the way in the
design of technologies for the world’s ageing populations.
- Designed and delivered with Soul: We need to strive to make technology that connects people to their
own aspirations, their own projects of self development, self esteem,
experience and identity, rather than devices that only focus on their
‘inabilities’ and ‘needs’.
Baroness Greengross, ILC-UK Chief Executive said, “Technology offers
significant potential not just to support the care needs of older people
but also to tackle some of the major challenges of isolation and
exclusion. We seem to be stuck in a situation whereby we can see the
potential of technology but it is not yet reaching the majority. The
major issues around the impact of ageism in research and the assumptions
made in relation to the policy on older people are highlighted in this
report. We must address this ageism if technology is to achieve its full
potential.”
References
1. OxIS 2009 Report at
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/microsites/oxis/
2. Ofcom report:
www.ofcom.org.uk/research/telecoms/reports/
bbresearch/bbathome.pdf
3. Facebook advertising figures in Nov 2008 and Oct 2009
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